While Patriarch Bodhidharma was in China, people
attempted to poison him six times. Who poisoned him? It was Bodhiruchi,
also called Vinaya Master Guang Tong, the same Small Vehicle Dharma
Master who forced the Patriarch's two disciples out of China. He was
extremely jealous of Patriarch Bodhidharma. He prepared a vegetarian
meal and offered it to the Patriarch. The problem was, he laced the
food with a lethal poison. Anyone would have died from the dose.
Well,
did the Patriarch Bodhidharma know
that the food was poisoned? He knew! Although he knew it was poisoned, he ate it
anyway. After he ate it, he asked someone to bring him a tray, and
then he vomited the food onto the tray. The poison he vomited was
transformed into a pile of writhing snakes. That was the first time.
After that unsuccessful attempt, Dharma Master Bodhiruchi couldn't figure out why the Patriarch had not been
poisoned to death. The second time he doubled the dose of poison. It
hadn't worked the previous time; this time he used more poison. He
even used a more lethal variety to try to poison the Patriarch.
Again, Patriarch Bodhidharma ate the food. Then he sat atop a huge
boulder and relieved nature. The force of the poison that was
eliminated exploded on the boulder, breaking not only the potency of
the poison but also splitting the boulder as well. That was the
second time.
